Wednesday, 23 February 2011

Very sad to have come home from work to see that Nick Courtney, The Brig, has died. There will be countless obituaries and tributes over the web in the coming days from fans. Most will be able to provide a better description of the man and his achievements than I ever could.

I am however saddened by his death and I want to take the opportunity to pay my respects.

I never met Nick and I was not a child of the Pertwee era. But, one thing that is apparent is that the man and the character he portrayed are both revered in fandom.

By all accounts, indeed one might say be EVERY account, Nick was a thoroughly decent and humble man with a great sense of humour. He treated the show and its fans with nothing but respect. His colleagues loved him. Tom Baker has said that he agreed to play the Doctor again mainly because he wanted to work with Nick again. Sadly, the decline in Nick's health prevented that reunion from happening.

The real loss is to his family and friends, those who truly knew and loved the man. But it is a testament to his talent that every Who fan will know that they will not see the Brig in action again and that we will all feel genuinely bereaved because of that.